Event: Whose Responsibility is Poverty?

Launch of the Webb Memorial Trust’s annual New Statesman supplement

How to end poverty? This hasÂ been a central question for socialÂ reformers since Beatrice Webbâ€™sÂ 1909 Minority Report on the Poor LawÂ challenged society to end destitution. However, top-down technocratic responses to poverty have proved inadequate and are ill-suited to contemporary Britain.Â The key question to ask, therefore, isÂ not how, but â€śwho?â€ť Answers to thisÂ question imply responsibility, agency,Â and power.

Who is responsible for creating a good society without poverty?

Join us for an informal launch of the fifth and final New Statesman supplement from the Webb Memorial Trust.Â Part of a series of work from the Trust that explores what a good societyÂ means and how it might be achieved, the supplement contains articles by Webb granteesÂ eachÂ of whom had been tasked with thinking creatively about the differentÂ actors that have a role in reducing poverty.

We will hear from several of the contributors to the supplement and there will be an opportunity to ask questions and discuss the ideas they put forward.